US representatives asked during recent negotiations whether Ukraine would be willing to withdraw its military forces from the Donbas region in exchange for admission to NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Friday, Nov. 13, Kyiv Post reports.
Zelensky stated that US officials raised the question for the first time during the latest diplomatic round.
While Kyiv has consistently maintained that it will not retreat or surrender sovereign land, the president said any concrete package combining NATO membership, binding security guarantees, and reconstruction financing would be submitted directly to the Ukrainian public for consideration.
“If the American side confirms this to us together with other NATO colleagues, then I will ask the opinion of our society: do we accept or do we not accept? I do not have the right not to do this at my own discretion. But specifics are needed, which do not exist yet, and all of this is under discussion,” Zelensky said.
However, the president stressed that Ukraine will under no circumstances legally recognize occupied Ukrainian territories as part of Russia.
“If there is such a proposal, I, as president, will enter into an open dialogue with society and say: ‘Look, here is where we are, here is how all partners have united, and here is how they see it moving forward.’ Undoubtedly, without any recognition of occupied territories as Russian,” Zelensky added.
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